


PERCY TAKES CHARGE

by Tales of Josan archivist (nocturnus)



Series: Old Meddler's universe [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Written Pre-Half Blood Prince
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-30 02:32:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10867200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nocturnus/pseuds/Tales%20of%20Josan%20archivist
Summary: Two people who've always known scorn finally find comfort and healing with each other.





	1. One by Josan

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally archived by Josan at Tales_of_Josan blog at Live Journal. She hasn’t updated since 2008. As you might know, Lj administration reserve the right to delete inactive blogs. I am merely putting her fics onto AO3 so that they are safe from any issues on LJ.  
> I'm doing this for the purpose of preserving her fics.

They’d had no warning. One minute they were sitting to their usual, calm, silent breakfast, Severus checking a reference in a book for some obscure potion he was brewing, Percy looking over the morning’s orders.

There was a loud “PING!” that indicated that their wards had been broached and, as they went for their wands, the back door opened and Bill Weasley ambled in.

“Whoooa!” He held his hands up to show that he wasn’t carrying his wand.

Severus’s lips pulled back in an almost feral snarl and Percy quickly stepped between his lover and his brother.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Over his shoulder, Percy kept an eye on Severus’s wand. “How did you get past the wards?”

Bill offered up his most charming smile, the one that had got him out of innumerable consequences with their mother. “Hey, I’m a curse-breaker, remember? The wards here are good, but I’ve faced harder ones. Took me barely five minutes to figure these out and work my way past them.” He leaned to a side so that he could smile at Severus, who was now standing, wand by his side. “You’re far less paranoid then I thought you’d be,” he acknowledged with one of those shit-eating grins of his that had always put Percy’s back up.

He noted that it had the same effect on Severus.

Without being asked, Bill sidestepped Percy and plunked himself down in one of the chairs at the table.

“What are you doing here, Bill?”

Bill looked up from grabbing one of the squares of toast Percy had prepared for himself. “Why, visiting you, of course.” As if it were the most reasonable thing to be doing, when he hadn’t even contacted Percy in over three years. “Is there a reason why I shouldn’t?”

Percy knew that tone. Bill was covering something up. With some reluctance, he took back his seat and pulled his plate of toast out of Bill’s reach. “You could have sent an owl.”

Bill licked the jam off his fingertips, his long tongue making a procedure of the action. “Spur of the moment decision. You know me, Perce, I don’t give advance warning.” He grinned up at Severus, who was still standing, his wand still out. “Is there a reason why I shouldn’t just drop in on my younger brother whenever I feel like it?”

Percy wondered if Bill’s grin could be more insincere. He tried to catch Severus’s eye but his lover was watching Bill with growing disdain.

“Of course not, William.”

Percy winced. He knew that tone of Severus’s far too well. His back was up and the old Death Eater spy walls were fully in place. But, finally, Severus slipped his wand back into its arm sheath and took his place. He reached for his cup of tea.

Bill’s smile grew even more insincere.

“Then I’m certain you won’t mind, Severus,” he reached over and snagged another piece of toast from Percy’s plate, “if I speak to my brother. Alone.”

That last word dropped into the tension in the room like a flat rock into a full kettle.

Percy shook his head but Severus only stilled for a moment, cup half way to his mouth, before setting it down and rising. “Of course. I shall be in the laboratory.” He picked up the book he’d been reading. “There is a potion that requires my attention.”

Percy reached a hand out to stop Severus, but the bloody man stepped aside just enough so that it missed him. He left the house without even a glance back, but with the stiffened shoulders that Percy now knew were part of his defenses.

“Bloody hell, Bill, you could have sent a note first.”

Bill just sprawled in one of the kitchen chairs, looking for all the world as though he were a cat settling down for a lazy stretch. “Didn’t want to warn the ugly bastard.”

Percy stood up and whisked the remainder of breakfast to the counter before Bill could do more than reach for the last of the toast as it whizzed by.

“Hey! No need to be that way, little brother. I mean, if he’s got you under a spell... .”

“Under a spell? What on earth are you going on about? What spell?”

Bill leaned back, long legs taking up all the spare space under the table, like he’d always done at home, and licked the crumbs off his fingers. “Thought is, back home, at the Burrow... .” His tone turned condescendingly cold. “You do remember the Burrow, don’t you, Per-cy, where our parents live?”

Percy felt the expression on his face freeze into his smarmiest. “Home? You mean the place from which I have been banned? Where I have been told never again to show my face? That Burrow?”

Bill guffawed. “Since when does anything the twins say make such an impression on you?”

“Not the twins. Father. Or, as he prefers me to address him now, Arthur. Since it seems that he has no son by my name.”

Bill slowly straightened, his smile changing to incredulity. “Dad? Come on, Percy, surely you... .”

“I what? Misinterpreted what he said? I don’t think so. Is he the one who’s sent you here?”

Bill shook his head. “Mum.”

“Molly.”

Bill stilled. “Look, mum says that Snape spelled you away from Sweet Thoughts and that the twins... .”

Percy could feel the coldness in his voice drip icicles. “Don’t ever mention the twins to me. Not ever, Bill. Not if you don’t want to pull out your wand at the same time. You may be one of the best curse-breakers at Gringotts, but I’ve spent more time dealing with the twins and their ‘experiments’ than you have. Especially recently.”

Bill licked his lower lip, a sure sign that he was doing some thinking. Pity he hadn’t done that before showing up.

“Okay. I’m beginning to sense here that I haven’t got the story straight. You left the Burrow because... ?”

Percy leaned over and placed his hands flat on the table. He was face to face with his older brother and, not for the first time in his life, fought back the urge to spit in his eyes. “I’ll tell you what, big brother.” He didn’t spit, but he was surprised to discover that his voice could have the same effect. Must be one of the side benefits of living with Severus Snape.

Bill responded to the tone; his face went ugly as his hand went for his wand, but stopped before actually pulling it out.

“You have a little talk with the entire family, one by one, alone and, when you have the story straight, if you still want to talk to me, you can owl me and maybe, just maybe, I’ll give you my side of it.” He straightened and stepped back from the table. With a rather negligent wave of his hand, he indicated the door. “Now, excuse me, but my partner is in need of my help. We’re running a business here, not a visiting centre.”

Percy waited, arms folded over his chest, until Bill got up and went to the door. As he passed, Bill hesitated and looked at Percy as though seeing him for the first time. “Perce.”

“Good-bye, William. And thanks for the warning about the wards. I’ll deal with them immediately.”

There was no bloody way on earth that Bill, or anyone else like him, was ever going to surprise them again. The Prick had expected paranoid? Well, now he was going to get it.

Bill got the message. He shrugged and went out the door. Percy followed him out, watching until he’d made it past the line of wards and, with a last thoughtful glance over his shoulder, disapparated.

Percy passed a hand over his hair. They were in the midst of some rather specialised work. In the mood Severus was in... .

Bloody hell! First the wards, then Severus. Not that he was all that great with security wards, but he had picked up a few from the Department of Mysteries warders when he’d worked for Fudge.

By the time Percy arrived in the lab, Severus was deep in work on the potion that had been ordered by a fellow potion master from Europe. Not that it was particularly complex, but it was incredibly finicky and demanded the kind of precise observation that came only with a high level of expertise. Severus hadn’t been interested in taking it on at first, but then the man had owled him the results, such as they were, of his attempts and the challenge had finally got to Severus.

Without a word, knowing better than to disturb him, Percy got to work on his own list of potions. Every now and then, he looked over at Severus, to see him fully concentrating on the potion, making notes, muttering to himself as he did when he worked some nuance out. Maybe, just maybe, they would come out of Bill’s visit with very little after-effect.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

In fact, it was as if Bill had never been. Severus worked all day on the potion, throwing out at least two attempts. Which was far better than the previous day when he’d had to despell three. He read through lunch, which was normal Severus behaviour when he was working on a project. He made the usual copious notes between attempts and cursed himself for not noticing certain patterns. He took a break from his work to look over the pile of orders Percy had placed on his desk to see if there was anything that would distract him, made a potion for Lady Malfoy, who was finally bearing, began another that would need time to stew.

The usual supper conversation ignored their visitor, though Severus had slipped out before the meal to see to the wards and add a few of his own to Percy’s. The only reference to that had been an approving, “Nice work.”

The evening was chilly – it was only the end of March and the temperature here in the Cheviot Hills took longer to warm up – and, while Percy saw to the kitchen, Severus added wood to the fire in the parlour. Not that a magical fire needed it for warmth, but they both liked the scent that burning wood added to the old cottage. Personally, Percy preferred flames that looked real because they were.

He stopped in the doorway and inhaled. Apple. The last of the old tree that had come down during a bad storm last winter. “Nice.”

Severus smiled up at him. “To go with apple brandy.”

Percy laughed. One of their neighbours had needed a potion and had bartered for it; home made apple brandy that had been aged for who knew how long. The stuff was potent and to be drunk sparingly. But the night was cold and there was a northerly wind blowing, so Percy thought no more of it.

Percy turned on the WWN to the classical programme. He settled in his chair by the fire with the book on herbology he’d found in Severus’s library. He was planning to replant the garden with as many of their own natural ingredients as were compatible.

Severus was still reading his way through the tome on obscure potions. Now and then, as they reached for their brandy, they caught each other’s eyes and smiled. Percy commented that the side garden would be perfect for their own bleeding heart and Severus laughed aloud. Later, Severus reached for a piece of parchment and jotted some information that he seemed to think would help with the experimental potion.

All in all, a regular, normal, ordinary day. Except for Bill’s visit.

They went upstairs to bed at the usual time. Severus saw to it that the fire was properly banked behind a fireguard, that the windows and doors were locked. Percy went to their room and saw to the fire there before turning down the bedclothes. His ablutions in the bathroom were a little quick as the room was not especially warm. He wondered, not for the first time, if cold bathrooms were a wizard tradition or a punishment for some long-forgotten crime. He might have thought that it was just because Severus had spent so much time in the drafty Hogwarts dungeons, except that the one in the Burrow was no warmer.

Severus took even less time than he had getting ready. He slipped under the now warmed covers with a sigh. Percy, from his side of the bed, just smiled. They read a little longer but after he’d yawned for the second time, Percy closed his book, placed it and his glasses on the side table, then blew out the light on his side.

“Yes,” said Severus. He put his book away, turned off his light and snuggled down under the bedclothes.

Percy turned to give him a kiss and Severus reached for him.

And then things changed.

Over the months they had developed their own pattern in love-making. Signals, silent and vocal, for who needed what. Who was topping, who bottoming. Which positions each preferred in which role. They’d learnt one another’s body during sessions when all they had done was touch. They’d made love slowly, quickly, gently and hard. There had been nights when they’d only held onto each other; when they had slept side by side; when they’d begun each on his own side only to wake, limbs entwined, in the middle. They were beginning to play games, making their way warily but with increasing ease and pleasure through the kinks each had which the other could cater to. After ten months, they were growing comfortable with each other.

This night, Severus didn’t allow Percy any say in what was happening. He took complete control, refusing to allow Percy even to touch him. It was sex, pure and raw. Severus used his knowledge of Percy’s body to bring him to the edge, deny him completion and take him even further along. It was sensory overload and grew painful to the point that Percy tried to get Severus to stop. Severus pushed his hands aside and continued, ignoring the sounds that were more protest than pleasure.

When he finally allowed Percy to come, Percy’s scream was less from his orgasm than from relief that he was being allowed off that edge of painful pleasure. Not that the orgasm didn’t blow his head off. But all he remembered before falling into darkness was that it was finally over.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Percy woke to darkness, in a cold bed. He lay there staring at the canopy and wondered what the hell that had been about. His body still ached, his nerves dancing under his skin. He turned onto his side to see if he could find answers on his lover’s face when he realised that he was alone in their bed. Which explained why he was cold.

Percy propped himself up on a still shaky elbow and shook his head. Where was Severus? There was no potion that required his attention. Had Percy been so out of it that he hadn’t been awakened by Severus in one of his nightmares?

He muttered, “Lumos,” intending to find his dressing gown, when he suddenly noticed the folded parchment on Severus’s pillow.

His breath stilled and his heart thudded against his rib cage. This did not feel like a good thing.

With trepidation, Percy sat up and reached for the note. His breathing hitched as he unfolded it. He read it. He closed his eyes and wondered if perhaps he hadn’t misread the note. Prayed God that he had. He braced himself and looked at it again. No, it hadn’t changed.

I want you and your things out of my house by no later than ten in the morning.

Percy bowed his head, unable to breathe, hurting more than the worst pain he had ever felt in his life.

What... .

Why?

It took him several minutes, but he finally took himself in hand. He had often been accused of being analytical and this situation demanded that from him.

All right. This was not the Severus he knew and loved. He should have known: the entire day had felt unreal. Severus should have railed about Bill’s visit, about how he’d been ordered out of his own kitchen, about the aspersions and innuendo cast by Bill.

Damn it! Percy should have caught on that things were not right. But he’d been so proud that he’d faced his brother down. The favourite son who could do no wrong. Beloved and accepted by his family no matter what he did, including hiding away from them by accepting the Gringotts position in Egypt. Which gave him the prefect excuse to avoid family gatherings and squabblings, their mother’s matchmaking, the twins’ latest fiasco. Hell, he even used it as an excuse not to show up for Christmas, claiming that he had to present his report to the annual Gringotts general meeting in March and he would see everyone then.

He’d apparate in, smile, wipe their mother’s tears, make her laugh, pat their father on the shoulder, sneak him some foreign Muggle thing that Arthur would then add to the hoard in the shed. He’d play the great peacemaker, listening to everyone, making it seem that he was doing something about the family quarrels, then, with another of those smiles, he would disapparate back to wherever he was stationed, leaving their mother in tears, praising his accomplishments and holding them up to everyone for months after.

The son who was his parents’ measure for everything.

The son against whom Percy had never measured well.

The bastard who had something to do with this dictum of Severus’s.

Well, he may have had no choice than to take it with his family. Every time he’d tried to defend himself, to present his side, they hadn’t really listened, preferring to compare him unfavourably with their precious Bill. But there was no way he was going to get booted out of here just like that.

Percy threw back the bedclothes and, grabbing his dressing gown, forgetting his slippers, charged out of the room in search of Severus and an explanation.

Of course, the man was nowhere to be found in the house. Percy had expected that but had checked, just to make sure. He was so angry about the situation that he never felt the cold slates under his feet as he made his way down the path to the lab. There was a thin line of light around a couple of the small windows, which indicated that someone was in there.

Percy caught himself from rushing down the stairs, slamming open the door, and confronting Severus. Emotion was not a good thing to use against Severus. He had his walls up – that had been obvious from the moment of Bill’s arrival – and only cold logic stood a chance against those.

Percy closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. Logic. He had to use logic. He had to stay calm. He had to focus.

His breathing regulated, Percy opened his eyes and stared at the sky. He took a moment to look at the stars, to wonder if this was the last time he’d see them from this particular spot. Feeling as controlled as he could be under the circumstances, he went slowly down the stairs, quietly opened the door and stepped into the lab.

Severus was there, working at his counter. There was a cauldron steaming away to his right, with ingredients lined up for use to his left.

Percy knew that Severus had heard him enter, but it was as if he were so involved in his work that he couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge his presence.

“You mind telling me what the note was about?”

Percy kept his voice even, trying to demonstrate that Severus was not the only cool one.

Severus didn’t even look up from his chopping. “The message was clear.”

Dear Merlin, this was the snide, sarcastic bastard from potions classes.

“Instructive, but not clear.”

“Not that instructive if you are here. Perhaps I should have added that I never want to see you again.”

Percy winced, but refused to allow Severus’s hit to appear in his voice. “I want to know why.”

Severus paused in his work, his head rose slightly. “I don’t have to give you a why. I did give you, as you call it, instruction. I expect you to follow such instruction.” He bent his head and continued chopping.

Percy couldn’t stop himself; he took a step forward. “Severus.” He also couldn’t keep the plea out of his voice.

Nothing. The bloody man didn’t even hesitate in his work.

“I want you and your things out of my house, out of my life, by ten o’clock. If you have so much time to waste, I will move the deadline down by a couple of hours.”

“You’re going to make me leave?” Percy flinched at the disbelief he heard in his own voice.

“I have that ability. Don’t make me use it.”

The threat was all the more effective for being delivered in a voice that was cold and dripping with contempt.

“In spite of what we’ve shared these past months, you would do that to me?”

“Shared? What have we shared, Weasley? A lab? A bed?”

“I love you, Severus.” Damn, and he had wanted to use logic only!

Severus barked a laugh. “Go away, Weasley. Go live a Muggle tale somewhere else. You bore me. Go away.”

Percy opened his mouth to protest, to plead his cause, when logic finally snapped into place. He wouldn’t be able to get through Severus’s walls, not this way: the man was better warded than Hogwarts when he was like this. But Percy had learnt a few things working for Fudge.

“All right, Snape. I’ll leave.”

And, hoping that Severus would not turn to look, Percy pulled out his wand and aimed it for the door. After a slow, mental count of three, he silently had the door open and slam shut. He slipped his wand up his sleeve and waited, barely breathing. Maybe... .

Severus continued chopping for several excruciatingly long minutes. Then, just as Percy was about to give in, the knife dropped to the floor. Severus still had his back to Percy who was very careful not to do anything to alert the man that he hadn’t really left the lab.

Severus’s arms went around himself and he leaned forward. There was a gasp, as though Severus were forcing air into his lungs past some obstacle. His knees gave way and he dropped to the floor, his body bent over his arms, his head bowed, his breathing loud in the silent room.

Percy forced himself not to move.

The sounds Severus was making grew in intensity until the lab was filled with a keening that made Percy physically hurt. No longer able to maintain his silence, he moved to Severus’s side and pulled the man into his arms.

“Severus. Oh, my love!”

For a moment he doubted that Severus was even aware of him, so deep, so all encompassing was his grief. Each sound tore out of him with a razor sharpness that made it hard for Percy to breathe.

“Se..Severus. I’m here. I’m not going away.” And when those words didn’t seem to penetrate Severus’s misery, he changed tone, allowing some of his anger and fear to escape. “You bloody idiot, did you think I was just going to walk away from you without a fight?” Almost screaming now, he gave Severus a hard shake. “I love you, you fucking lunatic!”

Severus finally opened his eyes but the sounds kept on coming. Percy sat on the floor, resting his back against the cupboards under the counter and drew Severus to him. Once his lover had begun weeping, he seemed unable to stop. Percy held Severus close to him, murmuring words, any words, that Severus might hear. But gradually they were merely sounds of comfort, a melody that his mother had hummed to him when he’d been ill.

Percy wondered if this deluge of tears had not been dammed behind some barrier for years and was now taking advantage of a weakness in the barrage to come spilling out. He rocked Severus as his arms finally moved to cling to Percy, to hold onto him with a fierceness that was sure to leave bruises.

Percy didn’t care. He just held on equally hard and hoped that, eventually, the deluge would stop.

It had to.

And it did. After what seemed to be an interminable time, the sounds weakened and the tears trailed off. Still, they remained as they were, holding onto each other, in the shadows under the counter-top, until Percy could no longer ignore the coldness of his feet, the numbness of his arse and the strained tension in his arms.

“Severus? Severus, sweetheart.”

Percy had to call to him several time before he got a response.

Severus’s head rocked back as if his neck was unable to support it. Percy looked down in a face laid bare to the bone. He bit back a gasp of alarm at the ravaged features. Bill had called Severus an ugly bastard and ugly was a compliment for what was looking up at him. Swollen eyelids that had sunk into hollows of purple bruising. Reddened eyes that reflected nothing up at him from a sheen of wetness. Beard-roughened cheeks that were sunken as if on a cadaver. Lips darkened with seeping blood from being bitten as Severus had tried to control his emotional outburst.

Percy pressed his lips against Severus’s forehead. “Beloved. It’s cold here. You need something warm to drink.” Dehydration was a real possibility after all those tears. “Let’s go home, Severus.”

It was easier said than done. Severus barely understood what was required of him. Getting him up onto his feet was a project in frustration as he seemed to have no co-ordination whatsoever. When he was finally upright, he could barely place one foot in front of the other unless Percy talked him through the motion. Going up the stairs, Percy practically carried the man leaning against him. Once, half-way up, Severus leaned far too heavily against him and Percy stumbled, struggling to find his balance. It wouldn’t do, after making so much progress, for the two of them to fall backwards down the stairs! Severus finally seemed to comprehend where they were and what they were doing. He managed to grab hold of the bannister and shift his weight so that Percy could find his footing.

After that, it was slightly easier going, though it was like directing a somnambulist.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Once in the house, Percy figured they shouldn’t even try the stairs to their bedroom. He got Severus into the parlour and collapsed with him onto the couch. There, he caught his breath before getting his wand out and aiming it at the fireplace. A magical fire would provide enough warmth right now. Percy managed to get Severus to lie on the couch – not that he could get him to loosen the grip he had on Percy. He finally just reached for the cover the men used now and then when they napped there. After he tucked the blanket around Severus, he accio’d his slippers and, with a sigh of relief, gladly slipped his feet into their furry warmth.

The aftereffects were beginning to make themselves known. What had been shivering now developed into something stronger. Severus’s teeth were chattering and Percy knew that had nothing to do with cold.

“Love. You need something warm to drink. You have to let me go. Just for a minute, Severus. I promise.”

The expression of dread on his lover’s face made Percy think that Severus didn’t really believe what he was telling him. Percy had to unclasp the grip Severus had on his dressing gown, finger by finger, until he could slip the trembling hand under the blanket. Percy leaned over and placed a kiss on Severus’s forehead. “One minute, love. I promise.”

He didn’t look back as he rushed into the kitchen, spelled the kettle to boil and made a pot of very strong tea. While it steeped, he ran upstairs, rummaged in the night table by Severus’s side, found what he was looking for and slipped it into his pocket.

He prepared two mugs of tea. He sweetened and milked the one for Severus. Not the way he drank it usually, but tonight he needed it this way.

“See, I’m back.”

The man had turned his face to the back of the couch. At Percy’s words, he slowly turned his head around to look up at him.

“Can you sit up?”

Percy placed the mugs within reach and slipped behind Severus, one arm around him. “Here, I’ll hold your mug. Sip, Severus. That’s it.”

It took almost half the contents before Severus’s hands came up from under the blanket and grasped the mug. Percy kept his hands over Severus’s until he was certain Severus could control it and then reached for his own tea. The liquid warmed his body but didn’t touch the part of him that had been frozen in shock since reading the note.

He waited until Severus had finished his tea and was staring into the dregs as though looking for some prophecy. He took the mug gently out of Severus’s hands, deposited it with his own on the table and moved so that he was now facing the man who still looked like hell.

Percy went to brush the hair off Severus’s face, but Severus jerked his head back, not allowing the touch. Percy allowed his hand to drop onto his lap.

“Why?”

Severus closed his eyes and leaned back against the armrest, his head slumping onto the top edge of the couch.

“Severus. Why?”

The eyes that finally looked at him were lifeless. “Because,” he said in a voice so hoarse that Percy winced at the pain speaking must be inflicting on a throat raw from keening.

“Severus, that’s not an answer.” He reached over and picked up one of the hands lying loosely on the blanket. Severus attempted to tug it out of Percy’s clasp, but Percy refused to let it go.

“No, love. That’s not going to work. I have no intention of leaving and every intention of getting to the bottom of this. Bill has a great deal of power, but he will not take you away from me. No one has that power, except you, and you are going to have to do more than tell me ‘because’ if you honestly and truly want me to leave.”

Severus looked around the room, avoiding Percy’s gaze.

“Severus. Stop trying to find an argument that you think will convince me to go. There isn’t one. I love you and I know that you love me. You haven’t said it in words, but, Severus, you say it in so many other ways.”

Severus sighed deeply, his eyes now on the hand that lay on his lap.

“Let’s start with this morning. When Bill arrived. Why did you get up and leave us alone?”

Severus shrugged slightly.

“Not your usual behaviour, Severus. Allowing yourself to be kicked out of your own kitchen. I expected you to tell Bill to go fuck himself.”

Nothing. Not even a shake of Severus’s head.

“I did.”

Now that got some reaction. Not a big one, but Severus looked up.

Percy shrugged. “Well, you didn’t, so I did it for us. What? Did you think I was going to listen to him?”

Not exactly a nod, but a slight leaning of the head to a side.

Percy shook his head. “Why? Because Bill is the golden boy, the perfect son, the perfect Prefect, the perfect Head Boy, the perfect curse-breaker?” Percy heard his voice rise in pitch and knew that his anger and, yes, jealousy toward his eldest brother was going to backfire on him if he didn’t control them. He started over, more calmly. “Severus, the last person on earth I would ever listen to is Perfect Billy. In the eyes of the world, he may be...” He looked for another word but couldn’t come up with anything other than, “...perfect, but to me he’s always been the Prick.” He smiled, hoping to add a little lightness to the situation. “Well, not that I ever called him that to his face or around the parents. I admit to not being that brave. Out loud, I called him the Prat, but in my mind he’s always been the Prick.”

No smile, no lightening of the tension, but those eyes were still on him.

“And he had his facts all wrong. Got them from Molly. I told him to go do his homework and then, if he wanted to speak to me, he should send an owl.” Percy raised the hand he held and rested his cheek against it, still holding Severus’s eyes. “Which I doubt he will once Arthur explains the family shame of having a queer in it... .”

Severus shook his head. “Bill’s queer,” he croaked.

Percy stilled. “Huh?”

Severus licked his lips and croaked again, “Bill’s queer.”

“Bill is queer?”

Severus nodded. “‘S why he’s in Egypt.”

“In Egypt?” Percy felt like a parrot, but he was having a little bit of trouble getting his mind around the information Severus had produced.

Severus swallowed, looking around for the mug. Percy picked up his wand with his free hand and awkwardly conjured up refills for them both. He handed Severus his mug. The man managed a glare, weak but still a glare, at the milky liquid, tugged at his hand – which Percy released – then clasped both hands around the mug. He took a sip.

“How do you know Bill is queer? I mean, he still has a reputation at Hogwarts for having shagged any female who crossed his path. Rumour has it that he even got into McGonagall’s pants.”

Severus sighed. “Vector’s as well.”

Percy winced. Too much information. Way too much!

“But he went to Egypt because of Artemis Fieldston. Last I heard, he’s still there because of Artemis Fieldston.”

“Who the hell is Artemis Fieldston?” Percy was incredulous. Not because he didn’t believe Severus, but because of the mere thought that Bill was involved with a man; had been, if what Severus was saying was correct, for over fifteen years.

“Hufflepuff. Year ahead of Bill. Archivist for Gringotts. His family knows about his ‘proclivity’ and didn’t take it well. He was posted to Egypt and doesn’t ever intend to return.”

“He and Bill?”

Severus nodded.

Percy reached for his tea. “Well.”

“Well, indeed,” agreed Severus, watching Percy over the rim of his mug.

“How do you know? About this Fieldston and Bill?”

“I have my ways.”

Percy smiled. Typical Severus answer. And right now, thankfully, the bloody man was also beginning to sound more like his Severus. “Well, I don’t doubt that. But there’s no way Bill is going to reveal that at home, not once he sees Arthur’s reaction.”

Severus nodded. “I know. Bill is very good at protecting his own skin.”

“And you know for a fact that he’s still with this Artemis?”

A faint version of the Severus scowl, then a sigh. “There’s a former Slytherin in his...in Fieldston’s department. Writes to me now and then. Seems Fieldston has gone ‘native’ to an extreme. Gringotts has no policy on non-Goblins’ personal life. All they care about is results and it seems that Fieldston is a top-notch archivist. And we both know that Bill is one of their best curse-breakers. As long as they don’t do anything to embarrass Gingotts.”

It was Percy’s turn to sigh and shake his head.

“What?”

Percy shrugged. “I was wondering how we could use that to our benefit, but no one would believe it.”

“By ‘no one’ you mean your family.”

Percy nodded. “Even if they caught Bill and this Fieldston in bed, doing the dirty deed, they wouldn’t see it. Their Perfect Bill wouldn’t do such a thing; ergo, their eyes are wrong.”

Severus agreed.

“I still don’t understand why the note, Severus?” Percy kept his voice gentle, but allowed his hurt to colour the tone.

Severus found his mug interesting once more.

“Please. It’s going to take more than that bloody note to get me to leave you, Severus. Why did you feel you had to write it? What were you hoping to accomplish?”

Severus closed his eyes. “I was trying to make it easier for me.”

“Make what easier?”

“Your leaving me.”

“Severus, I am not leaving you.”

“No. Maybe not now. But you will.”

Percy shook his head. “You wrote that kind of a note after what you did to me in our bed...and we’ll get to that later...because you think that one day I’m going to leave you?”

“Not one day.” Severus’s voice was resigned. “Probably in...” his eyes closed as he thought. “Oh, I’d say, in less than a week.”

Percy was completely confused. “Than a week? Severus, what the hell are you talking about?”

Severus sighed again, placed his mug back on the table and leaned back tiredly against the arm of the couch. “You sent Bill to question your family. I may have been out of the room, but I left the back door open enough to listen in. I left then.”

Percy actually felt relief; now that was the kind of behaviour he expected from his Severus.

“Bill may not want your family to know about his lover but I predict that he will do his best to have the family welcome you back, just in case he gets...what is the term these days? Outed?”

Percy nodded.

“We both know that your father will not be easy to persuade...”

Percy snorted.

“...so Bill will involve...the big guns.” At Percy’s inquiring eyebrow, Severus added, “Dumbledore.”

“Shit!”

“The one man in the world your father will listen to. And because Albus is heavy on family reconciliation, we should be getting a couple of letters from him in about a week. Mine will point out that I have been very kind in taking you in at a time of family strife, in teaching you a profession, but that now it is time for you to rejoin your family. It will be subtle, but somewhere in it he will hint that the truth is I still owe him for the trust he placed in me.”

Percy got the impression that this wasn’t the first time Severus had heard that particular truth.

“You will get a letter that says that your family has missed you greatly, that your mother is in need of her children about her in her golden years, that you owe it to her at least to be at her side as she supported you against all nay-sayers. Depending on how stubborn he feels that you may think of being, he may point out that it was due to him that Harry spoke up in your defense. He’ll probably tell you that there is a position waiting for you in some Ministry lab where you can be a productive member of society, making your mother proud. And that there is no reason for you to remain with me.”

From the way Severus’s explanation rolled out so easily, it was obvious the bloody man had been ruminating on this for some time. As for Dumbledore’s role... . “Fuck! He would, wouldn’t he?”

Severus closed his eyes. “And because he would be right, that would be that. He would expect me to convince you that you have to leave. And expect me to let you go.”

“Just like that?”

Severus opened his eyes. “Are you ready to take on Minister Dumbledore and all the resources at his command? Do you miss the pleasures of Azkaban all that much?”

Percy opened his mouth to deny that Dumbledore would go to such lengths, but then closed it. The Minister might, might not actually cast them into Azkaban if they ignored his wishes, but, yes, Percy could certainly see him using the threat. If Dumbledore thought he was right, then all had to fall into place or he would see to it that it did. A trait he shared with Fudge.

“Shit.”

“I thought a clean break would be easier.”

“So you used an executioner’s axe.”

Severus shrugged tiredly. “I did what I thought best.”

Percy shook his head. “You’re an idiot. I love you, Severus, but there are times.”

Severus looked away.

“You still don’t believe that I love you, is that it?”

The smile on Severus’s lips was sad. “Percy. You are the flame to my ice. If you stay with me, I will put out that flame.”

“I’m considered by most to be a rather cold flame, if flame is how you see me.”

Severus’s hand came up as if to cup Percy’s cheek. He let it hang there for a moment before dropping it back onto his lap. “A beautiful flame.” His voice was so sad that Percy’s heart ached anew. “Full of life. With a full life ahead of you. But not if you stay here. I destroyed my life; I will not be responsible for destroying yours.”

Percy fought the urge to roll his eyes. Not that old song again!

Severus made a sound, like a rusty chuckle. “Dumbledore sent me to you to get you out of a potentially nasty situation. I suppose you were to remain here until your family was ready to see what they were doing to you.” Another of those painful chuckles. “I don’t think it was in his plans that I should fall in love with you.”

Damn the man! He would pick this time say the words! “Severus.”

“No. If I am not part of the scene, your family will accept you back far more readily.” He dropped his head once more against the couch, eyes closed. Voice faint with fatigue, it was more as though he were speaking to himself. “Ugly, bitter bastards like myself are not welcomed. You will go to them. You will find yourself a younger, more acceptable lover. Someone beautiful, like you are. And you will have a life far more rewarding than anything I can give you. And,” Severus continued with an unpleasant twist to his lips, “when Bill’s little ‘adventures’ in Egypt are ultimately discovered, you will have paved the way for your family to accept the situation.”

Percy fought the urge to hit the bloody man. Damn it, but they’d already covered this ground and he’d thought that Severus had understood. On the other hand, he certainly had got Bill right on target.

“You’d have come to that conclusion yourself, at some time.”

He opened his mouth to argue but noticed the lines of exhaustion on Severus’s features. Now was not the time. Percy reached into his pocket for the vial he’d taken from Severus’s night table and, taking advantage of Severus’s closed eyes, quickly emptied it into the rest of the tea. “Here, drink this. You need the fluids.”

Severus didn’t protest but meekly did as Percy had ordered – which showed Percy just how tired Severus was. He took the blanket off, helped Severus to his feet and they headed up the stairs to their bedroom.

There, Percy undressed them both and got into bed, propping himself up on some pillows before cradling Severus in his arms. “Sleep, love. Things will look better in the morning.”

Severus snorted sleepily. He actually nestled closer and let his head rest against Percy’s shoulder. “I did it because I love you,” he whispered.

Percy smiled. “Yes, Severus. I know.” He nuzzled the head on his shoulder. “What a way you picked to tell me.”

But Severus didn’t hear his complaint; he was sound asleep from the Dreamless Sleep potion Percy had poured into his tea.

Percy didn’t sleep. He sat, holding his lover, considering as many angles to the problem as he could make out. To his mind, there were two major ones: the fact that Severus didn’t understand why anyone could love him and what to do if...when the letters arrived. When, because he was certain that Severus had read the situation correctly.

Damn, so much information, so many things to contemplate! Was it only less than twenty-fours ago that Percy had thought he’d finally found the nice, stable life for which he’d always yearned?

A possible solution to the first came to him just as the sun was rising. A potential to the second came as he worked out the details of the first.

The Dreamless Sleep would see to it that Severus would be out for a good eight hours. When Severus used the potion, he never used the full dose. But Percy had, so that gave him now a little less than eight hours in which to work out the aspects of his plan and begin putting it into effect.

It would mean leaving Severus alone in the house for several hours. Percy carefully slipped out of the bed, substituting his pillow for himself. Severus curled up around it, his arms holding it tight to him. Percy checked the clock on the dresser. The shops wouldn’t be open yet, but the part of the Ministry he needed to visit would be. And he needed to get in and out before anyone saw him.

He dressed, checked on Severus one more time, then saw to it that the doors were spelled to make loud noises if anyone tried to open them without the password he set up. He went out beyond the house wards to apparate into an alleyway close to the boarded-up haberdashery that served as the London front of the Ministry Archives.

He was lucky. The familiar old goblin who’d been Manager-in-Charge during Percy’s tenure was still in charge. He was sound asleep in a battered armchair. Percy carefully made his way under the order counter, past the goblin, to the rows upon rows of stacks that made up the history of wizardry in Great Britain.

Fudge, in a flurry of paranoia one day, had ordered Percy to find out all that he could on those who taught at Hogwarts, onto the fifth generation back. To satisfy that paranoia, Percy had spent five weeks in the Archives, under the watchful eye of the manager goblin who took great offense at this disruption of his quiet, ordered existence. He’d rummaged through box after box of scrolls, dating back some 400 years. It had helped that the stacks were in alphabetical order and the contents fairly chronological.

In no time, Percy found the verification of something he’d thought he remembered from the Snape family archives. It was the matter of a moment to commit that information to memory. That was followed by a quick visit to another set of the stacks, where he did the same with more information.

Before he left, he made certain that there was no trace of his visit. The old goblin was a fanatic for everything being in its proper place. Visitors and requests for information here were not a common occurrence and there were other goblins to keep busy. The Archives were probably neater, cleaner and better organised than any other Ministry department. Percy took no chances; he cast a couple of dislocation spells. No one could have any idea that he’d been here or his plan would have very little chance of success.

Apparating to another part of London, he took the same precautions for the entire ten minutes he visited his old flat. It was with a sigh of relief that he apparated to yet another part of the city, where he checked the Muggle watch he’d brought with him. He had more than enough time for breakfast and gossip in a nearby restaurant before the shops opened.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Severus woke slowly. He had to fight his way through the residual fog caused by the Dreamless Sleep potion. Percy knew this was one of the reasons why Severus never took a full dose of the stuff. For far too many years, when he woke, he’d had to be fully alert.

Percy looked up from the book of potions he’d been reading. He’d spent the afternoon sitting by the bed, his feet propped up on its side, waiting for Severus to wake. It had been longer than eight hours, closer to eleven. He checked the clock on dresser; its hands were pointing to ‘Afternoon Tea Break’.

The rest had done Severus a world of good. He’d fallen asleep resembling an emaciated scarecrow and was waking looking more like his old self.

Percy smiled to himself. The man had the features of a bloody crow. No wonder he thought no one could love him. Of course, he didn’t help matters any with that tongue of his. It could strip the skin off a displeasing student at 30 paces.

Mind, Percy caught the snicker, what that tongue could do when its master was in the right mood!

Severus opened his eyes and Percy knew from their expression that his frustrating idiot didn’t yet remember.

“Hello, lover,” he purred.

Severus closed his eyes. He stretched, arms gradually rising about his head, giving himself a twist that Percy swore popped his spine. He lay lazily on the bed, not really moving, not, Percy knew, fully awake. When he did... .

Those black eyes snapped open and Percy felt the full force of Severus’s awareness. No laziness now: Severus’s body was almost rigid.

“You know, Severus, there are days I really wish I had the balls to hit you over the head with the biggest cauldron we own.”

Severus’s eyelids dropped, partially covering up those eyes.

“Of course, then you’d probably return the favour, but I have to tell you,” Percy dropped his feet off the bed, tossed the book onto it and leaned forward, his nose as close to that beak as he could get and not lose focus, “it would be well worth it if I got through that thick skull of yours.”

Before Severus could react, Percy claimed his mouth and put into practice all the lessons he’d ever learnt about kissing.

So, though he himself was breathless when he finally pulled away, it did his ego nothing but good to see that Severus’s eyes, when they opened, were glazed over.

He leaned over so that he could whisper into one of Severus’s ears, “That was just a little something for you to remember the next time you have the overwhelming urge to play martyr.” He pecked a quick kiss on Severus’s beard-roughened cheek. “Arsehole,” Percy said, affectionately.

Severus propped himself up on an elbow. “Percy.”

Percy could tell by the tone that Severus was gearing up for some kind of confrontation. He held up his hand. “Tea time for me, breakfast for you. We will discuss this after you have some food in that hollow belly of yours. That’ll help with the Dreamless hangover you’re fighting.” He picked up the book and ambled over to the door. “You have time for a shower. I’ll see you downstairs in no more than fifteen minutes.”

Once out, he turned and looked around the edge of the open door. Severus had propped himself up on his hands. The expression on his face was the closest thing Percy had seen to befuddled. He grinned at the man. “By the way, the Malfoy owl arrived this morning.”

Severus sat up so that he could pass his hands over his head, smoothing back his hair. As Percy had hoped, he grabbed at the chance to change the topic. “Bloody hell! What does he want this time?”

Percy shook his head. “Not him, her.” And he left it at that.

Percy laughed to himself softly as he clodded his way noisily down the stairs. If that little mystery didn’t get Severus in a better frame of mind, he’d...he’d deliver the potion to Malfoy Manor in person.

It was less than the fifteen minutes he’d given him when Severus entered the kitchen, washed and dressed for the lab.

“What does she want? I made her enough Pre-Natal Stamina Potion to get her through two bloody pregnancies!”

Percy pointed to the table. Now, that was more like it. The scowl and scorn were back where they belonged.

Severus dropped into his chair and reached for the mug of black tea, strong enough to strip two hundred years of soot off any ceiling.

Percy served him a bowl of seafood stew that he’d made purposefully; it was one of Severus’s favourite meals. They didn’t often get fresh seafood up here in the Cheviot Hills, but Percy had visited a fishmongers while in London. Severus looked at the contents of the dish, glanced up at Percy, who was sitting down in his own chair, mug of sane tea in his hand.

“A nerve-calming potion.”

Severus almost choked on his mouthful. “What? But the idiot woman is six months pregnant! That won’t do her babe any good.”

“Not for her.” Percy tipped the chair back a little, having fun drawing out the whole scene.

Severus reached for some bread to sop up the juices. “Who, then?”

“Him.”

The crust paused half-way to Severus’s mouth. “Him? Draco?”

Percy nodded, taking another sip of tea. “Seems he’s driving her crazy. She wants something to slip into his tea that will calm him down. Before she’s forced to do something desperate, like hex him to, and I quote, ‘kingdom come’.”

Severus said nothing, ate the sodden bread, took a sip of tea and used the rest of the crust to wipe his bowl. Percy got up and served him again. Severus looked as though he was about to protest, then shrugged, reached for more bread and continued eating.

“Will serve him right, the prat,” he muttered between mouthfuls. “That’ll teach him to marry a Muggle-born.”

Percy snickered. “Hermione will have him changing nappies.”

Severus snorted. “She would.”

Percy agreed. “Strange bedfellows.”

“War. It paired off people who... .” Severus stilled.

Percy nodded. “Whom no one ever thought would pair off.” He got up, took the now empty dish away and placed it in the sink. He had no intention of touching upon the topic more than that. “You’d better make her a triple portion.”

Severus held his mug in both hands. “Percy.”

“You have a potion to produce and you have just enough time to do so before we have to dress.”

“Dress?” Severus kept his voice neutral but his eyes were following Percy with an intensity that really made him happy he was wearing his gardening robes.

“I’ll explain later.” He leaned over and pecked a kiss on Severus’s cheek. “Lab, man. You’ve slept most of the day away.”

And, though he expected a small battle on his hands, he didn’t get it. Severus finished off the tea, set the mug down, rose and quietly went off to work.

There were advantages to having as a lover a man who hated to talk about things that made him uncomfortable.

~~~~~~~~~~


	2. Two by Josan

“It’s done.”

“Is it?” Percy looked up from the plants he was propagating in the basement.

“Sent it off.” Severus sat on one of the steps. “I included a small dose of Long Sleep, just in case she needs it for when she goes into labour.”

“For her?” Percy wondered how that would help. Wasn’t a woman supposed to be awake during labour? Their mother certainly had been, screaming down the house and threatening to castrate their father. He’d never quite understood why things were all hunky-dory after the babe had been born.

“For him.”

“Ah.” Percy smiled. “Good idea. She may want to go for a spare and she’ll need him for that, won’t she?”

Severus shook his head. “Lucius must be turning in his grave.”

“Can you think of any better revenge on the bloody bastard?”

Severus thought a moment and then almost smiled before moving on. “Are you going to explain this dressing thing?”

Percy dusted his hands. He went and stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at Severus. “Do you trust me?”

That infamous eyebrow disappeared under a lock of hair. “Why are you asking?”

Percy shook his head. “Doesn’t work that way. Answer the question, Severus. I know you love me, but do you trust me?”

He waited while Severus mulled over the question. He’d expected no less, so it didn’t disappoint him. But the slow nod that finally appeared did make his heart lighter.

“Yes. I trust you.”

Percy stepped up enough so that he could lean over to stroke a quick kiss on those lips that were threatening to pout – in spite of the fact that Severus would loudly and at length protest that he never did such a thing. “Good. Then do so. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.” Then he grabbed Severus’s hand and pulled him up behind him. “Come on. Come do as I ask.”

What he asked got himself looked at in such a way that Percy knew it was only due to the unsettling events of the past days that he wasn’t being hexed to ‘kingdom come’.

“These are Muggle clothes.”

Percy nodded. He ignored the sneer to doff his robes and head for the shower. “Trust me.”

He’d picked black of course. He knew his Severus well enough not to try any other colour. Leaning against the bathroom doorframe, roughly drying his hair, Percy tried to watch with a semblance of objectivity.

The tank top that ended at waist level was sleeveless, displaying the strength of Severus’s shoulders and the sinewy lines of his arms. There were benefits to stirring the contents of cauldrons for hours on end. The dark mark had faded so that its image was indiscernible unless one knew what to look for. He’d foregone black jeans for a pair of slacks that hugged Severus’s arse and displayed his long legs to advantage. He’d also included some new underwear, the kind that went mid-thigh...tightly demonstrating what had long been hidden under teaching robes. If, back then, Bill had had any idea... .

But he hadn’t. What came with the sneers, the scowls, the sarcasm made putting up with all those worthwhile.

And now, all that belonged to Percy!

His own clothing, which he had reclaimed from their hiding place in his old flat, was a little more colourful. Dark blue jeans with a forest green tank top. He’d bought himself some of the same underwear, enjoying the look Severus sent his way when he’d reached for the jeans.

He tossed his dark brown leather jacket onto the bed while he gave Severus the once over. “Add the jacket.”

Severus hesitated, then reached for the one that had accompanied his clothing. Black leather, what the clerk had called ‘bomber style’. It had taken far too much of the Muggle money he’d been carefully exchanging and gathering in the bottom drawer of his dresser, but he had no complaints. Merlin, the man looked good.

Percy pointed to the bathroom’s toilet. “Go sit down. It just needs one more change.”

Severus sighed, but did as requested. “More of this trust nonsense?”

Percy smiled. In matter of fact, it was probably the most that he’d ever asked. Using Severus’s brush, he gathered the man’s hair into a queue, tying it back with a narrow thong of leather; black, of course.

Severus didn’t like it. He tried to hide his unease with a gruff, “Well, with my ears sticking out like that, my nose looks all the more like some mountain.” He turned to Percy. “Is this necessary?”

Percy understood that the veil of hair had been used to hide Severus’s features. He had been the brunt of far too many negative comments about his looks. Been taunted with them far too often. Yes, the nose was big, the ears large, but what the man didn’t understand was that the bone structure of his face carried them well. The jaw line was strong, the chin sharp, the cheekbones well-defined. And all dominated by the eyes.

“Trust me, Severus. I would never do anything that would hurt you. If you’re too uncomfortable, you can lose the tie. Promise.”

Severus nodded and turned yet again to look at himself. Percy wondered if the man had any real idea just how fucking sexy he was. With a little luck, tonight, he might finally get the message.

They went to leave the bedroom when Percy suddenly shoved Severus against the wall, holding him there. “One more thing,” he growled.

Dropping to his knees, he quickly undid the buttons behind the placket of the slacks, slipped his hand in and pulled out a cock that was the stuff of his dreams. Long, but not too long. With the ability to thicken just enough so that it presented a decent mouthful.

“What...?”

Percy ignored Severus and went to work. Ten months of going down on his man had taught him a thing or two about Severus’s triggers. It was, as the previous night had been, just sex. No finesse, no drawing out, no gentleness. In no time at all, Percy had Severus hard. A few head twists, flicks of the tongue on certain spots, the judicious use of suction and teeth with some manual pressure on the balls still housed within the underwear, and Severus couldn’t prevent himself from bucking into the heat that was Percy’s mouth.

As he stood up to tuck Severus in and do up the buttons, Percy pulled out what someone had once called his evil smile. “Just to get the edge off. In case you get any ideas.”

Still leaning against the wall for support, Severus gasped, “Ideas? What ideas?”

Percy waited until his breathing was less harsh to grab Severus by the hand and lead him out of the house to their apparation spot. “You’ll see.”

It had been dark in the Cheviot Hills; it should have been dark here as well, but garish neon lit up the night.

Percy smiled as he pulled his frozen-faced lover along, leading him out of the alley and into the main street. There were people around, mainly men, some hurrying, others strolling, chatting with or looking over the young men who were slouching against cars or store windows.

A glance at Severus’s face and Percy knew that the man had caught on that they were in some gay district of London. Severus was not much into mingling in the Muggle world. Too much of a wizard to be comfortable in a world he’d left behind at eleven. Percy doubted that Severus had ever investigated what was available to men of their sexual orientation in this world.

Percy had.

He’d gone with a gay wizard he’d had sex with one furtive night who, like him, hid what he was from family, friends and work. Percy had caught on quickly that here, in this world, he could allow himself to be what he was. Well, as much as he’d been able to. But he’d been adventurous enough to find a different sector to visit other than the one frequented by the other wizard.

His own little secret. Where he’d discovered that a red-headed man, with what he’d always considered to be a skinny arse, could be quite popular.

The basement bar was his favourite. The one where he’d had his biggest success. He stood at the bottom of the steps, looking around the place, seeing the changes that had occurred since he’d last been.

“Hey, Red! You’re early.” As if it hadn’t been over two years since he’d last been, the man behind the bar, a tall, burly man, grinned at him. “Love the beard!” and he laughed as he gestured to his own.

Percy waved back and pointed to a free booth in a corner. The man nodded and went back to deal with an order. The bar wasn’t crowded yet. It was, as the man had indicated, still early. And it was a Wednesday, so it would never get as packed as on the following nights. A good night for the point he wanted to make.

He considered Severus as the man slipped into his side of the small booth. He’d said nothing, but the old skills were certainly in play. His eyes skimmed the room and Percy knew that, even after such a seemingly casual perusal, Severus knew the layout of the place as though he’d been a regular.

“Why are we here?” Severus finally asked.

Percy grinned as he shed his jacket. “For what is basically a crappy meal, some decent beer and some great music.” He leaned forward. “We need a break, Severus.” Those lips curled up for what Percy knew was going to be some incredibly snide remark. He cut it off with “You trust me, remember?”

Severus wiped the expression off his face but finally gave a small nod.

“OH, MY GOD! It is you. Sweet cheeks, where have you been keeping yourself?”

When Percy had checked, earlier in the day, that his favourite bar was still around, he’d also verified that it came with a certain server. Billie – “That’s with an ‘ie’, never a ‘y’, sweet cheeks!” – was short, slim, with the kind of waifish features that appealed to many. He was also loud, garish, melodramatic and loved nothing more than to be the centre of everyone’s attention.

Percy grinned at him. He was surprised to realise that he’d missed the bar and Billie. “Busy, Billie dear.” The man, clad in his usual outfit of shorts that were cut so high as to reveal the curve of his cheeks, and nipple rings linked with a gold chain, charged over in mid-thigh boots with heels so high and spindly that Percy wondered, as he always did on seeing Billie, how he managed to move so fast without breaking an ankle.

Billie leaned over and greeted Percy with an exuberant and loud kiss on the lips before he pulled back, planted a fist on a hip, jutted out the other all the while balancing a tray of drinks. “Well, sweet cheeks, busy suits you. You’re looking so much better than you did last time you graced us with your presence.” He leaned over again, still managing to keep the drinks from spilling, and patted Percy on the cheek. “You’ll be fighting them off with bats tonight, Red.”

Severus, Percy caught from the corner of his eye, was suddenly looking very possessive. Billie caught the shift in gaze and turned to check out his competition.

His loud gasp got more than the usual attention from those around them. In one smooth movement, he transferred the tray of drinks to a passing server and sat himself on the edge of the table, his back to Percy. He made it very obvious that he was looking Severus over before he twisted his torso slightly backwards. “When you said you’d been busy, Red, you weren’t kidding, were you? Is the package as wonderful as the rest of him?”

Severus raised an eyebrow, his expression sliding from possessive to sneeringly disdainful and Billie gasped loudly again, clasping his hands over his heart. By now, they were the focus of attention of almost everyone in the bar. Especially when Billie slipped to his knees, and, arse high to display his best feature, salaamed at Severus’s feet.

“Oh, please, tell me you’re bored with Red. Tell me you’re looking for a slave to serve you.” He raised his head. “A good slave. A great slave. I can provide references.”

Severus suddenly seemed most uncomfortable; he pushed back against the seat as though preparing to apparate away. Percy didn’t want this trek into the Muggle world to backfire, not before Severus learnt a few lessons. He leaned over and patted Billie on the arse, making very certain that his hand came in contact only with the clad part.

“Billie.”

Billie ignored Percy. “I am a lot better and kinkier than Red here could ever be. Surely a Dom such as your masterful self... .”

“Billie.”

A new voice this time. Percy sat back to watch Brian, the man from behind the bar, shaking his head sadly, grab Billie by the back of those almost non-existent shorts and haul him up. He rolled his eyes. “Sorry about that, Red. You know what he’s like when a new Top hits the place.” He tossed the protesting Billie casually over a shoulder before turning to Severus. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep him out of your hair. Enjoy your evening. First round is on the house.”

Severus nodded regally to the man, who, as he made his way back to behind the bar, patted Billie’s arse a lot harder than Percy had dared.

The attention in the bar shifted from them to Billie and his wriggling yips and cries interspersed with whimpered promises to be good.

“What’ll it be?”

Percy smiled at their new waiter, this one dressed in sprayed-on black jeans and the skin-tight white t-shirt. “Heineken.” He looked over at Severus who appeared a little shell-shocked. “One for him as well. And some of those chicken sandwiches with crisps.”

“We’re staying?” muttered Severus, frowning.

“I told you, wait for the music. There’s a live band and they’re due to start in about,” Percy glanced at his watch, “a half-hour.” He leaned forward to cut off Severus’s response with a subdued, “Severus. Billie doesn’t know you from Adam. Did you notice he was attracted to you?”

Severus sneered, “Are you certain he wasn’t just putting on an act to get your attention, sweet cheeks?

Percy shook his head. “Really, Severus. You know me. How long do you think I could endure him before I hexed him,” he smiled, “to kingdom come?”

Severus found the table-top interesting. He was saved from answering by the bottle and plate that were plopped in front of him. Percy let him get away with that. The evening was still young.

Still, the jealousy and possessiveness were reassuring.

The band arrived early and set up, putting an end to easy conversation. They were loud but made up for that by producing music with a beat that had the dance floor filling up with happily gyrating bodies.

Percy waited until Severus had finished the beer to drag him out of the booth, strip the jacket off him – Severus glared unhappily at the gall – and drag him off to join the others.

“I can’t dance,” Severus yelled in Percy’s ear.

Percy ignored him and let his body move to the beat. His eyes on Severus, he still kept watch on the action around them, not looking to be picked up as he had in the old days, but for Severus’s protection. The man frowned but, when he tried to return to their table, Percy reached for him and pulled him close. “Just move. Hell, Severus, you supervised enough Hogwarts dances to know what to do.”

It didn’t happen easily. Severus held himself stiffly, as if he had no intention of allowing himself to enjoy the activity. Every time he tried to sneak away, Percy surreptitiously blocked the way and shook his head. Percy had spent a lot of time in recent months watching Severus and his natural elegance, so he wasn’t all that surprised when the man, with obvious reluctance, finally decided to stop fighting him and listened to the beat. After a couple of songs, Severus just closed his eyes and let his body loose. Percy wished he’d open them so that Severus could see Percy glaring warnings away from other dancers who came too close to Severus for Percy’s comfort.

Then it happened. A dancer seemingly bumped into Severus, whose eyes shot open wide before settling on Percy.

“What? Did he hurt you?” Percy was ready to pull out his wand and take on the entire Ministry at the thought.

Severus shook his head, turned and walked off the dance floor. Percy let him, wanting to know what happened. Severus sat at their booth and took a long gulp of the beer that had replaced the empty one he’d left behind.

“Severus. You all right?”

Severus opened his mouth, shut it, thought a moment, took another gulp then leaned forward to reveal, “He pinched my arse.”

Percy blinked. He sat back and looked at Severus, who was flushed at the confession.

Percy had to cough back the giggle that threatened. It wouldn’t do to laugh. Severus certainly did not see this as a laughing matter.

“Well,” he said. “That is a very fine arse you have, Severus. I’ve been tempted many a time to pinch it myself.”

Severus opened his mouth, then shut it again. He took another sip of beer. Percy picked up his own.

Damn but the man was a pleasure. He really thought himself unattractive. It was time for him to learn that not everyone saw him as a rangy, ill-socialised First Year. Or as the Greasy Git potions instructor. Or the Death Eater who may or not have been on the side of the Light.

If the only thing this evening accomplished was to get Severus thinking about himself differently, Percy would count it a success.

“If you’re sitting this one out,” said a slim man who was smiling beautifully, “maybe your friend would like dance?”

Severus obviously thought the request was directed at Percy. Percy, who had looked up at the first word, knew it wasn’t.

“Severus? Do you want to dance with him?”

Severus looked up, startled. The man flirtatiously ratcheted up the wattage of his smile. Severus shook his head. “No, thank you.”

“Maybe another time?”

Percy not-so-surreptitiously kicked the man. A certain amount of flirting was acceptable; after all, that was the point of this evening. But word needed to get around that Severus was not unattached. The man glared at him and left, limping a little.

Severus’s eyes dropped to the bottle in his hands, but Percy had caught the pleased astonishment in them as well as the hint of a smile on those lips. Not waiting any longer, Percy pulled Severus up and back onto the floor. It was a slow number before the band’s break and he wanted to hold his man in his arms, in front of people who knew what that meant.

Severus’s top was damp from the exertions of the evening and Percy buried his face in the curve of Severus’s neck. He inhaled deeply, the scent of his lover going directly to his cock. He rubbed it against Severus, letting him know how he was affected.

“Do you want to leave?”

Percy looked up to find Severus watching him, eyes dark and hot. He shook his head. This might be the only chance he’d ever have to dance this way with Severus in a public place. He wasn’t going to lose the opportunity to give him something to think about.

Severus pulled Percy’s head back where it had been, his hand remaining on Percy’s head until the end of the number. His other he settled on the small of Percy’s back. They moved slowly together, fitting perfectly, Percy thought.

During the break, Severus decided to get fresh drinks. Percy wasn’t the only one who watched him make his way through the crowd to the bar where Billie and his very understanding lover were serving up orders. While he was waiting to be served, Percy noted a couple of the younger men, boys really, trying to get Severus’s attention. It pleased him to no end when all Severus did was looked them over with that detention gaze of his and they scurried away.

He wanted Severus to understand that he was sexy and attractive, but not at the cost of losing him. He was about to go join him when one of the men whom Percy knew to be a Top ambled over to Severus and engaged him in some conversation. Severus listened, nodded once then shrugged. He looked over to Percy, who met his glance with a raised eyebrow of his own, and turned when the barman called out his order. Brian and the Top shared a comment that obviously, from Brian’s gestures, had to do with Billie, who was filling orders and flirting. With a small laugh, Severus left the bar and walked over to the table with a certain swagger in his step.

Percy didn’t ask what that had been about but he noticed that, whatever it had been, Severus smiled at his bottle a lot.

The music began again and, this time, Severus was the one who pulled Percy onto the floor. It was as though a switch had been pulled: Severus smiled, moving his body in a way that reminded Percy of the dances of his time at Hogwarts. He countered that with a little body teasing of his own and hooted with delight when Severus came close enough to rub his hips and groin against Percy’s.

As the beat grew to a crescendo, the room heated up, as did the dancing. And when someone tried to interject himself between the two of them, making a play for Percy, it thrilled him to no end when Severus pushed the man away with a loud and authoritative, “Mine!” He pulled Percy close enough for them to dance groin to groin, for him to slip his hands under Percy’s shirt, to play with his back, to slip them into the tight space that was his jeans. For his mouth to nip at Percy’s lips.

They weren’t the only couple engaging in what was basically foreplay on the dance floor. It wasn’t the first time Percy had done so. But this was Severus playing with him and Percy found it the hottest thing he’d ever done in public.

Percy forgot that they were in a room filled with other people. He concentrated on Severus. Saw only Severus. Felt and even tasted only Severus.

Severus was flushed, sweaty, hard. His lips were swollen from Percy’s kisses. His eyes blazed with the kind of passion that made Percy want to fuck him then and there. The man was beautiful and he was Percy’s.

Severus knew. He pulled Percy off the floor, past their table, where they stopped only long enough to grab their jackets and drag them on as they rushed up the stairs. In the alley, before apparating, Severus grabbed Percy and took possession of his mouth in such a way that Percy wondered if he would be able to make it home before he came.

Once home, Severus barely allowed Percy time to enter the house before he pushed him against the wall and taking up from where he’d left off. They were naked by the time they reached their bedroom, articles of clothing stripped off by hurried hands and left where they fell.

At the bed, Percy took control. He pushed Severus onto his back, held his wrists above the man’s head in a tight clasp and shook his head. “Last night was sex, Severus. Tonight, it’s love.”

He had his bit of revenge on Severus. As he had not been allowed to touch or use his mouth the previous night, he now refused Severus. By the time Percy slipped into Severus’s body, his lover was barely capable of speech.

Percy took him face to face, not one of Severus’s favoured positions. Severus preferred being taken by the side or the back when he was penetrated. But tonight Percy was having none of that. He wanted to see Severus’s face, to watch the expression on it as his cock slid into his man.

“Open your eyes, Severus.”

He had to insist several times before Severus did, revealing eyes blacker than night.

Percy angled Severus’s hips into a better position, propping his legs over his shoulders. He leaned forward, weight propped on his hands, to stare into those eyes as he pulled/pushed his cock into Severus’s body. He used every pump to accentuate what he was saying.

“Together, Severus. We stay together. With us together, they can’t win. And they are not going to win; you understand that, my love. Together.”

“Together,” moaned Severus.

“Together, my beautiful Severus, ” asserted Percy, joyful that, for once, Severus didn’t protest the description. He let himself down onto Severus’s body. Using their sweat as lubricant, Percy teasingly rubbed his lower body against Severus’s cock as he worked himself to orgasm. Severus whimpered in protest while Percy rested against him, catching his breath. Percy raised his head and grinned. “Your turn, sweet cheeks.”

Severus snarled, “Just move, damn you!”

Percy pulled out of Severus and rubbed his groin hard against Severus’s until the man came with a loud moan of relief.

They fell asleep, entwined.

In the morning, they discovered that the mixture of sweat and cum meant the loss of some body hair as they separated for a shower.

“I don’t think this was the kind of togetherness you had in mind,” teased Severus, almost shyly.

Percy pushed him against the shower wall before dropping to his knees and dealing with Severus’s morning erection. When he’d used his mouth to his advantage, he stood up, ignoring Severus’s moan of loss to turn the man around, enter him and grab hold of the cock still warm from the heat of his mouth.

“I think this is the kind I had in mind.” Percy managed it so that they came almost simultaneously.

Head leaning against the wall, breathing hard, Severus’s hand dropped to Percy’s, loosely holding onto his now-softening cock. “Together,” he said.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The next days were a strange mixture of hesitancy, wariness, soft touches, hot looks along with passionate necking sessions on the couch. Meals took longer to make, as Severus or Percy prepared more than food. Severus was less patient than Percy and finally bent him over the table filled with their evening meal and took him there and then. “Between the gravy and the spuds,” Percy teased that night in their bed.

“An aperitif,” countered Severus. “You shouldn’t swing your hips that way if you don’t want them appreciated.”

Work in the lab was kept to a minimum and only to potions that were easily and quickly made. The men had other things to occupy them and, if Percy sometimes caught a sense of desperation in some of Severus’s moods and comments, he let them go by unanswered.

In the week that Severus predicted was all they had left, he would allow nothing to interfere with the deepening of their bond.

And the man was right. A week to the day after Bill’s visit, the letters arrived in the morning post.

Severus looked up from his tea to see what Percy was carrying in his hands. He grew very still, his face paled, and he took a sharp breath.

Percy lay the two letters down. The seal on both was easy enough to read: Albus Dumbledore, Minister for Magic.

“Well, they’ve come,” said Severus.

Percy nodded. As Severus went to pick up his, Percy stopped him. “Don’t touch them.”

He went into the pantry and came out with a couple of large, flat wooden boxes. “This one is for the lab. You’ve got less than an hour to miniaturise everything in it. While you do that, I’ll deal with the house. Any secret places I should know about?”

“Percy?”

“Get a move on, Severus.”

“Percy.”

Percy ignored Severus’s glower. He shook his head. “Together. I’ve made plans. Now trust me and go get the lab done.”

Severus opened the box and stared at its slotted sections. He shut the box and went to do as Percy had asked. At the door, he stopped. “There’s a secret compartment off the linen closet. Password is ‘Gringotts’.” Then he left.

Percy filled three of the boxes. One he used for all the books, another for the garden plants that he had prepared in the basement. When he closed the last, there was nothing left in the house, not a knut in the safe that had held the money. Only the cupboards and counters that were part of the house. He had placed their Muggle clothing on one of the kitchen counters and looked at his watch. He was pretty much on schedule; now to go check on Severus.

There was no need. The man entered the kitchen and placed his box on top of the others.

“What now?”

Percy had been expecting some reticence from Severus, an argument at the very least. Not this unnatural passivity. Then he caught the gleam in Severus’s eyes. Understanding? Excitement? Anticipation? Whatever it was, it infused Percy with the determination to see his plan through.

“Now we change into the Muggle clothes, but we cover them up with our robes.”

Severus took a long look at the clothing piled on top of his formal robes, robes that he hadn’t worn in years. With a sigh, he began stripping off his everyday robe.

Once ready, they miniaturised the boxes and slipped them into the pockets of their robes.

Percy led the way out of the front door which Severus locked with a word. They were at the apparation spot when from the house they heard a loud “PING!” followed by “Hey, Perce, where... . What the fuck?”

Bill.

“Now. To the bar,” ordered Percy.

In the alley, they removed their robes and spelled them small enough to slip into inner jacket pockets.

“I wonder,” Severus said, a little too casually, “what the effect of all this miniaturising will have on the contents of the boxes?”

Percy shrugged. “According to the literature, theoretically, everything should survive.”

They moved out into the street. Severus looked around as they went on their way. “They’ll find us here.”

Percy nodded. “I know. That’s why we’re not staying here. We’re just giving them a trail to follow.”

He led Severus down to the underground, to King’s Cross Station, and bought two one-way tickets for Ireland. He could see that Severus wanted to say something and appreciated the man’s restraint.

Once the conductor had verified their tickets, Percy leaned over and whispered, “Meet me in the loo.”

From there they apparated down to Plymouth, allowed several people to see them, and then apparated again, this time to Calais.

The number of apparations, especially that last, was taking its toll on both of them. Percy exchanged the last of his Muggle pounds for Euros. “How many more?” Severus asked as they drank some strong coffee in the hopes that it would re-energise them enough.

Percy had to think, he was so tired. “Two more. Just to be sure. I think we can manage that without splinching ourselves.”

“May I ask where we’re going? You do seem to have a destination in mind.”

Percy smiled. “I want to keep it a surprise, if that’s all right with you.”

Severus snorted. “That bloody trust thing again.”

Percy finished off the cup of strong coffee. “Yep, that bloody thing again.”

The next apparation made them both feel sluggish, in spite of the caffeine they’d ingested. Percy looked about the public garden in which they’d apparated and found them a bench that was out of the way.

When they’d caught their breath, Percy decided that they really needed time to recoup before the final apparation. They spelled a glamour on each other and went off to find a restaurant for a leisurely lunch.

The weather was warmer than anything they’d had since the last summer. “Why are we in Monaco?” asked Severus.

“Who would think to look for us here? There’s no wizard community here at all; at least, none that I know of. Besides, they’ll be looking for us in Britain, hopefully for a couple of days yet. By then, we should be impossible to find.

“Try to look like you’re enjoying the scenery,” offered Percy as he dug into the soup they’d ordered. He was famished. Apparation took a lot of energy and he needed to re-stoke.

Severus looked around at the view. It was beautiful. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live near a warm sea,” he muttered as he refilled his bowl from the tureen that had been placed on the table.

Percy smiled as he shoved a bit of roll into his mouth.

It was late afternoon when the men slipped into the shadows behind the garden bench they’d returned to, having spent a couple of hours dozing a little as they recovered their energies.

“We’ll need our robes now,” said Percy, taking his out and deminiaturising it.

Severus shook his head. “I assume that there is a reason for these to be so formal.”

Percy didn’t rise to the query. He straightened out the folds on Severus’s ebony silk robes. Severus ran his fingers around the collar of Percy’s copper- coloured velvet.

Percy smiled as he whispered the co-ordinates of their final destination.

There was the scent of sea in the air. Warm air. Severus looked around. They were in hilly territory that overlooked, in the distance, the incredible blue of a warm sea.

“Where are we, Percy?”

“That,” he answered, pointing to the blue that seemed to rise from below them up into the sky, “is the Ionian Sea.” He turned and pointed to the tall, cone-topped mountain to the left of them in the distance, “That’s Mount Etna.”

“Etna?” Severus stared at the volcano.

Percy kept on. “We’re at an elevation of approximately 900 metres. The nearest large Muggle community is someplace called Taormina but, back that way,” he pointed behind them, to a road that was barely more than a well-worn track, “is a very, very old wizard community called Belvedere dell’Illusione.”

He waited to see if it meant anything to Severus. It didn’t at first and Percy wondered if he had assumed too much. He was about to explain when Severus suddenly spun around to look at him. “Belvedere dell’Illusione? The one in Sicily?”

Percy sighed with relief. “Yes, that Belvedere dell’Illusione.”

Severus turned around again, now far more interested in the scenery. “My mother’s great-grandmother was from Belvedere dell’Illusione.”

“Yes, I know.”

“According to family tradition, she left here when she was a baby.” He swung back. “How do you know that? It’s not common knowledge.”

Percy smiled. “I read it in the Ministry Archives. She left here at the age of three with her mother and father, who had been hired by some diplomatic family to take care of their children in their new posting. Her parents died of some illness and the diplomatic family kept her with them until she met your twice-great-grandfather, married him and settled in Britain. Her name was Constance and her family name was di Belvedere.

“After your argument that we had no chance to remain together, I wrote to the mayor of the village.”

Severus crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to one side. He looked merely interested.

Percy nodded, a little nervously. “Not in my name, but in yours. I told him that you were a potions master and gave him your genealogy . I explained that you wanted to do some delicate research in a place that would allow you to work without the usual big city annoyances. That you thought that you might also like to see where some of your blood might still run. That you wondered if there would be a place for you to work in Belvedere dell’Illusione. I signed it with your full name, your diplomas, your awards.”

“He must have answered very quickly, then.”

Percy found the ground interesting.

“Percy?”

He looked up and shook his head. “I told him that you would show up in person to hear their answer. You and your assistant.”

Severus walked to the edge of the flat onto which they had apparated and looked out towards the water, where the blue of the water disappeared into the blue of the sky. “What,” he finally asked, “will we do when they tell us to get lost, Percy? I may not know much about this village but, if it is like other villages of its age and ilk, they will not welcome strangers. Do you have any idea what you’ve done to us?”

Percy said nothing and his silence forced an angry Severus to turn around and face him.

His anger dissipated when he saw that Percy was no longer alone. That there were several people, maybe a dozen or more, who were making their way up the track to the flat.

Their dress belonged to ages past and Percy thought that several of them were probably among the oldest wizards and witches he had ever seen outside the Wizengamot. He moved to join Severus.

Hand in sleeve, on wand, ready for action, the two men stood side by side, watching the people line up facing them. One of the men, who was more fancy-dressed than the others, stepped forwards. He bowed and the two men politely returned the formality.

“Maestro Snape?”

Severus took a step forward, bowed, carefully took out his wand and, with a nod to the speaker, cast a translation spell on himself and then Percy.

“Forgive me. We do not speak your language but now we can communicate. Yes, I am Severus Snape. May I ask whom I have the honour of addressing?”

The man smiled. “I am Ludovico Marcello, mayor of Belvedere dell’Illusione, Maestro. We have been watching for you.”

“Yes,” muttered Severus, sparing a glare for Percy, “so I understand.” He turned back to the man, ready to offer his excuses, when a little girl peered from around a young woman’s robes and was encouraged to come out.

With a shy smile, she approached Severus, holding a small bouquet of what had to be local flowers. She curtsied, then looked over her shoulder at the mayor, who nodded, all the while beaming. She went up to Severus, curtsied again and, with a grin, offered him the flowers.

“Welcome home, Cousin,” she said, and all those from the village gave a cheer.

ssS The End Sss


End file.
